Looking at the copyright block, you’ll notice that this is for a Firefly title and not a Serenity title (as they have done in the past), which means that hopefully these stories will take place in the time frame of the TV show, licensed from Fox, and not in the movie-and-beyond time frame that the Serenity license from Universal granted. The Serenity: Firefly Class 03-K64 title was used on the 2012 Free Comic Book Day story, written by Zack Whedon. Will they be rebooting the ‘Verse to have a couple of seasons of material, like has been done with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel? Or will it all still fit into the established time line. No doubt Dark Horse was gauging fans’ opinions at the Star Wars vs Serenity panel they hosted at Comic-Con in San Diego.

These were David and Goliath stories. Little guys, taking on impossibly big challenges. Irresistible stories of human aspiration. What happened over time? They became Goliaths themselves; they lost their inner David, their startup spirit.

..and then points to Firefly for not turning into a Goliath, by being canceled.

Cartoon Network released their schedule of panels at Comic-Con, coming up in a few weeks in San Diego. For Star Wars fans, they confirmed the Lucasfilm panel on Star Wars: The Clone Wars coming on Saturday, July 14.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Onto Season Five
The aftermath of Season Four has left the Star Wars galaxy a very dangerous place: Darth Maul is alive, Asajj Ventress is a bounty hunter, and the Mandalorian Death Watch is deadlier than ever. How will these threads continue in Season Five of Star Wars: The Clone Wars? Find out in this behind-the-scenes panel, which will feature new clips, new insights and more. Join the discussion with Supervising Director Dave Filoni and head writer Matt Michnovetz (who wrote Season Four’s powerful Umbara arc). Moderated by Star Wars author Pablo Hidalgo. Room 6DE

Also from Cartoon Network’s announcement: panels for Adventure Time, Regular Show, DC Nation,Ben 10, and Mad and two new shows based on existing properties: Annoying Orange, and Dragons: Riders of Berk (from How to Train Your Dragon). The Adult Swim programming block will have a single panel on Friday to highlight seven of its shows, including Robot Chicken (and their upcoming DC Comics Special) and The Venture Bros.

Meanwhile, there’s been some confirmation from Tim Minear that Comic Con will also have a 10th Anniversary panel for Joss Whedon’s Firefly. That’s gonna be a mighty fine shindig. Will Nathan Fillion be there? Probably so, even if there’s no Castle panel. Who needs Castle when there’s a (Dan Harmon-less) Community panel?

May the Fifth be with you! May the Thors be with you? Or something.. But get out to your local comics book shop to get your free comics for this annual celebration of sequential art. As previously mentioned, Dark Horse has a few different offerings, including a Han Solo and Chewbacca Star Wars story, ‘The Art of the Bad Deal’, in a flip-cover comic that also has a Zack Whedon-penned Serenity comic. Both stories have a common theme – a man and his ship. Dark Horse’s second freebie is a flip cover for Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Guild. Combine both free comics together, and you will also have a two part story of Caitlin R. Kiernan’s Alabaster.

There’s only one release this week, but it isn’t until Saturday, when you can head to a participating comic shop for Free Comic Book Day. Among the offerings is a two-sided Star Wars/Firefly book from Dark Horse – no, not a crossover, just two stories. And yes, there are plenty of kid-friendly choices and they really are FREE, so bring the younglings.

As Entertainment Weekly rightly points out, even if folks could raise the funds, it would be difficult to convince 20th Century Fox to let go of the rights. And then there’s the whole “gettin’ the band back together” problem.

But still. Nearly everyone in the cast and production team have a mighty love for the franchise. And it’s hard to tell a Browncoat something can’t be done. They might be just the people to figure out how to pull off a mass funding of a television/movie production. Ya just never know.

Not only did the fifty-six page Serenity: The Shepherd’s Tale hit comic book stores last week (and mine is on back order), delving into Book’s past, everyone in the ‘Verse get a small treat this week: Dark Horse and USA Today have an 8-page comic, Serenity: Downtime up – today just has the first four pages, but the story will continue tomorrow. Joss and Zack Whedon scripted the book on Shepherd Book, while Zack flies solo with the story for ‘Downtime’.